The walking was arduous, would be an absolute lie to say. The little faery walked slowly, not caring about how fast, or how slow, she was actually going. She had a short gait, and being significantly smaller than me meant she walked at a snail's pace constantly. She's keep her eyes focused ahead of her, like a statue that could walk she wouldn't do anything but walk. She still had her spear in her hand, which she carried along as if like a stick, holding it by the center. Not caring if she could accidentally penetrate someone ahead of her.

 I couldn't see her face as I was walking behind her. If it's anything like what I know about her, she's not showing any facial expressions, not smiling, laughing, nor even showing fear. It was like she couldn't, rather than won't, express herself with her face. She could speak just fine, and the movements of her lips were normal. For a very long time we walked, the little faery not seeming to care about anything at all. At one point I stopped caring about her and observed the scenery around me. Yes, trees. There will always be trees, in a forest.

 The air smelled of wet ground and leaves, the familiar feeling and smell of the air after rainfall permeated everything. The land had finally begun to slope, going up one of the massive roots of ollmhór mountain. More appropriately it could be said we were going up a hill now. Where was this faery taking me? If we were to continue following the root of the mountain towards the mountain proper we'd eventually come across Knock, the town of roughly five hundred people. I wouldn't want to go there, but I doubt this faery was taking me there.

 Eventually we reached the top of the hill. My legs weren't so tired as they had been the past two days, the food the faery had given me was very helpful with that. Especially the meat. Walking up this hill would've been torture otherwise, my legs too sore to want to move, and my will sapped from the pain of having to move. Ard turned to me, eyed me for a while as I fidgeted in place at her gaze.

 "You've done well. Is your spirit still in pain? Are you in pain? Does anywhere hurt?" She said. Too many questions, and asked too fast, I couldn't answer them all at once. So I decided to shake or nod my head based off of the succession of questions. No, my 'spirit' isn't in pain, neither am I, and I'm not hurt anywhere.

 "Good. Let's build a shelter here. You will live here until whatever you're going through is over. After that, we'll part ways. If you turn out to be useful to me, then I would like for you to stay a bit longer. Does this sound agreeable?" Looking up into the sky, the sun was beginning to make his descent once again. We could build a shelter, it wouldn't be a good one. The area we had stopped around had some cliffs, not very useful given how gradual they were. Still trees dominated but not on even ground, and at the topmost like we stood now, there was no trees. Only lush green grass and bushes.

 I nodded. A rudimentary shelter wouldn't be too difficult, normally. In a different place, definitely not difficult. Ard didn't respond, instead went towards a tree and tapped against it. It was the only tree around, she quickly went back to me and noted her findings. Whatever they were.

 "We'll be fine. Where would you like to make shelter? It will be your home, as I have my own."

 Walking around I tried to look for some sort of rocky overhang, it'd be best if I didn't have to do too much work in building this shelter. And I didn't know how long I would be here for, at most a year given that I would need to go back to my village before next fall. I hope I'll be able to express myself well enough for Ard to understand why I'm going back to the village, come that time. Catching my own thought process, why was I already so used to this girl's presence? To begin with I'm only listening to her words because she's provided to me food and clothes. Significant, yes. Perhaps that's the reason.

 Why'd she take me up here? There's barely anything to build with. Barely any debris, any that might've been here had already been washed down by the rain. Did she want me to build a roundhouse? There's no materials here for that and that'd take too much work to do by myself. Shaking my head I started going back downhill, towards the forest proper. Ard didn't seem to care, but she did begin to follow me eventually.

 "Where are you going?" She asked. I couldn't answer her. Perhaps she got the picture of why I didn't respond, and rephrased her question. "Do you not like the hill?"

 I shook my head. There was nothing to use to build. I want to find a fallen tree and cover some branches over it. There aren't any leaves around, and thus the actual protection it could provide was low. But it'd be something, very easy as well. Takes little time, as well. Would I be protected from the rain thanks to it? No. Definitely not. Eventually I'll have to create a hut. Granted that Ard had thankfully provided me with enough food, absolutely free, I hope at least, I could probably focus on just building a hut for a while.

 Next on the order of survival would be to find a stream. A tributary, hopefully. Something greater than a literal puddle in the ground would be nice. Then, collecting acorns. A lot of acorns, hopefully all the wildlife haven't eaten everything by now. If Ard stops feeding me now, I'll be in very deep trouble.

 I looked over at her, she was walking almost alongside me to my surprise. She didn't make much noise. She noticed my staring, or sensed it, and looked up to me.

 "Yes?" She asked me, a valid question. I stared at her for a bit, and finally moved once I thought up a gesture to communicate to her with. I rubbed my belly, and then moved to my mouth, and made a motion for drinking. Then I shrugged. Hopefully she'll understand that I'm uncertain over whether or not I'll be able to, or will be provided, food and water. Knowing this while not crucial at the moment will be crucial later on. If she could continue to provide to me whatever meat she was giving me, which I believe to be venison, then my life is set for a while. I hate to mooch, but I need whatever I can get.

 Unblinking, her stare stayed on me even after I finished my gesturing. Her eerie green eyes boring holes into my head. Finally it clicked, and her head jerked slightly at the realization.

 "Are you hungry? Or are you asking whether or not you can find food? Or is that you are wondering whether or not I'll be providing you food?" She didn't wait for my response, but instead kept talking, going through each possibility until she was satisfied, or couldn't think of any more answers.

 "If you're hungry, then I could get something for you. But I would prefer it for you to wait tomorrow rather than today. I wouldn't like to run back and forth between my own home and where you are. If you wondering or questioning your own ability to survive, I can't help you. There is enough food if you know how to get it. I know, and I've seen you, work with plants and weeds before, but given that winter is coming, and that it is fall, you'll have a hard time finding food even with in depth knowledge of the forest. You can survive even without me, still, albeit it'll be difficult. If you are wondering whether or not I will continue to provide you food and water, that'll depend. Mostly on you. If you decide finding food is too much of a hassle, I'll provide you the bare essentials until my oath is completed. Then I'll pelt you with rocks until you leave."

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 She abruptly stopped and continued to look square into my face. She didn't turn away, or show any other expression other than the very neutral one she always showed. From here I also noticed another peculiarity of this strange creature, her teeth. They were sharp. Each one of them looked sharp enough to bite through bone. Her gaze seemed to be stubborn enough to do so as well, but back to her words. I nodded.

 So even if I did nothing but laze around all day I'll be fed by Ard. How generous. Why is she insistent on keeping her word? Had she mentioned to me an oath before? I don't remember. But, if I were to do so she'll violently reject me the moment whatever oath she promised was completed, so it's in my interest both ethically and practically to look for my own food. And that she told me she'd give me the bare essentials, that might be very little. Everything points to me finding food myself, if I could.

 Finally happening upon a good fallen tree, the day breaking into sunset as I did, I started quickly gathering sticks long enough to be propped up against the trunk of the fallen tree. I'll sleep immediately under it, and although I didn't have any furs or blankets to cover the ground with, I would have something to hide me away visually from any predators that might walk by. The ground would be wet and uncomfortable, but that is a fine price to pay. I didn't have any charms I could meditate with throughout the day, so no bear or wolf deterrent would be available to me.

 Ard stared at me throughout the entire process. Not caring for politeness, she stared at my every movement. It wasn't until I was finished, and the sun fully away into the earth, that she said anything.

 "What is that? Why did you build that?" She waited for a response. I shrugged. I could feel annoyance coming out of her.

 "Don't you fathachs normally build those round building things? Why haven't you done that? The hill would've been a better place to do that in."

 I looked at her, her face unmoving and her hands almost lifelessly beside her. She's a very odd one. I thought for a while on how I could answer her. The things I wanted to express were too complex, but shaking my head would probably best answer her questions. So I shook my head at her, looking into her eyes as I did so. To all that's other worldly her eyes are starting to scare me.

 "No? Did you not want to or could you not? Can you?" I shook my head. She looked down at her feet and... almost looking angry. Frustrated? Did she want to see how roundhouses were built? It's not that complex, I just need a lot of slender trees, a lot of sticks to weave together the roundhouse with, reeds or straw and finally daub. The roof, made of either reeds or straw, admittedly could use anything that would insulate and protect whoever inhabited it from the cold. All of those materials I did not have, and will not have for a long while now.

 "I wanted to see you make one." She finally said, her face still expressionless. Her hood was still up, perhaps she really didn't like the feeling of water hitting her hair. Or she was simply cold. Either would fit. Where her face lacked, her voice filled in. She sounded sad. Sorry, little Ard, but I can't do anything about that. I stayed, awkwardly looking at her, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did I decided to walk around for anything that might resemble dry wood.

 Of course, there was none. Everything was drenched, and probably will be for a week, maybe more. My life isn't the greatest, but it certainly isn't the worst. My survival has more or less been assured by Ard, at least for as long as whatever it is she's waiting for to come to pass.

 Deciding the best use of my time would be to tidy up the inside of my little shelter, barely big enough to house me inside, I spent the rest of daytime clearing out the leaves and any bugs that might be inside. I could sleep in here, without very little problem. At one point Ard had left me, leaving me alone in the forest. The hooting of owls, and sometimes the scampering of leaves, was all I could hear. This was actually pretty scary, how did I not notice until now?

 Being allowed to think by myself, with no one else once again, my mind started to linger on what had happened last night. On my maimed hands, on the sensations of pain. What had caused me to do that? Ard told me I had lit it myself, did it have something to do with this slow increase of that white structure within me? Within the center of my chest, my heart was pure white. Everywhere else, webs of structures like veins and arteries stretched out, from the my heart it the webs would grow thinner and up to the thinnest portions that existed within my fingers. But I could sense that even there the web was growing, slowly more elaborate, slowly encompassing more and more area. When would it stop?

 It caused no discomfort. It was barely a problem, it didn't hinder much of anything. What I do fear, however, is breaking even the smallest strand of it. If that once again ignited that white fire, I don't want to think about it. Don't pull it taut. Don't break it. That's all I should worry about for now.

 Curling myself into a ball, I went to sleep on the wet ground. I hadn't brushed my teeth in a while, I suddenly remember.

 The morning sun eventually came. I had slept like a log throughout the entire night, I don't know when I fell asleep precisely but when I did, I did. Crawling out of my shelter, which had lasted me throughout the night as it should, I once again took a look around my surroundings. Yes, trees. Good to see. And an Ard, which I could mistake as a tree considering how little she moves.

 "Hello, fathach." The name she's given me and presumably to the rest of my people, a word that simply meant giant. Do faeries see us as giants, then? If she's considered tall, as her names implies, then humans most in fact be massive. One can say, giants. I nodded at her. She carried another package of green, or two, which she carried to her left. Her spear was held on her right. She walked towards me and sat next to my shelter. I guess she doesn't mind a wet behind.

 "Here, food," she said while handing to me a small green package. Looked like a very small portion of the meat this time. I could guess she's telling me something through that, like get food yourself. I nodded and gratefully accepted the meal. The other leaf she carried, she took a bite of without unpacking at all. I stood, watching her eat. She didn't give any mind as she absentmindedly ate next to me.

 You can eat the leaf? Or is that something only faeries can do? Should I even risk it? I could die from this. Oh well, I'll take a bite out of it as it is. Ard didn't seem to care that I mimicked her method of eating, which may be a good sign. But perhaps she didn't have a solid understanding of what humans could eat yet. Should I stop eating this? I can barely taste it thanks to the meat content inside. You know what, this is incredibly stupid. Master would tell me to be extremely careful around plants either she or myself don't know. I don't know where this leaf came from, so I should stop trying to tempt death.

 Opening up the leaf I used the same method of eating as I did last time, that is slowly pulling back the leaf with each bite of the venison I took. The inside of the meat, now that I actually had the time to look, was slightly pinkish. She didn't cook it until it was well done, which was sort of good. Could be much redder, though.

 We enjoyed the meal, I finishing much faster than Ard, and I started to walk around to inspect the general area. Ard didn't do anything but instead watched me as I did so. Was this much free time common among the faeries? Whatever. Taking off the cloak I've been gifted, I prepared myself for the collection of acorns, I needed as many as I could get right now. It wasn't until several hours had passed, and my cloak had been too full of acorns, that Ard began to move.

 "Are you going to eat acorns? Hope you got water. Wait, you don't. Seeing as you're taking the effort to survive, finally, I'll help you. Keep collecting acorns, I'll be back."

 And with that Ard went away, leaving me to collect acorns. There aren't as many as I would've liked, I'm not the only living creature trying to prepare for the winter.